Surveillance video showed a man walking past 78-year-old Catalina Mateo, who was riding in her motorized wheelchair. In the video, the man simply reaches into her lap, snatching her purse and runs off in the opposite direction.

The incident took place at the corner of Wyckoff Avenue and Bleecker Street in Bushwick.

Tips helped police identify the suspect as 18-year-old Cody Santiago. Police said he has two prior arrests for theft and sex abuse.

Mateo was unhurt, but was left without her purse and everything inside it. She said her purse contained $15, medicine and a blood pressure monitor. Now, Mateo said she feels scared to even leave her house.

Santiago lives with his mother on Grove Street. Neighbors there said he hadn’t been spotted in a few weeks.

“I never known him to get in trouble or anything — always a quiet kid,” Anthony Jordan said.

Watch The Surveillance Video Of The Theft:

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